Dry Building: Why It Makes Life Easier

Before you even think about paint for your Bow Tie, there are other things to check out first.

Through the construction of our Project XS '70 Chevelle convertible and '55 hardtop, we've learned more than a few things about what really goes into building a car. Not just the nuts and bolts of it, but into the murky depths of what it takes to assemble a really cool Chevy.

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Before a car can be wheeled into the paint booth for some color, there are important and sometimes critical things that need to be checked, test-fitted, and looked at. If you can avoid it, you never want to be drilling or cutting on a painted body. It's too easy for a tool to slip or similar mishap that'll add hours more work to your build, and ding your wallet for what it costs to fix the damage.

Now, if you're a pro builder obviously you're going to know most of what we're about to discuss. You might even think of something we didn't mention. If you do, head on over to the Super Chevy Facebook page, and post your dry-building hints and tips for everyone to see.

With the help of Classic Automotive Restoration Specialists' (CARS) Jim Barber, we're going to throw some tips out there that'll help make the build process easier for the at-home guy and help those with cars being built at shops better understand what's going into their car's construction.

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Know Your Parts Ahead of Time
Building a custom car is a lot like cooking. You've got to know your ingredients beforehand and have them ready to go before putting everything together in the pot. If you're building a custom dash, you need to have the gauges in hand so you can build the structure around them. Do it in reverse, and you've just limited your options while probably increasing cost.

What wheels are you using? A lot of custom and aftermarket wheels require more clearance than what stock wheelwells can give, requiring mini-tubbing out back and mods to the inner fenders up front. For steering, wheel width is going to affect your turning radius and range, possibly requiring bumpstops to prevent rubbing.

Aftermarket A/C, stereo, and other accessory systems usually require dash mods and tweaks for proper fit. Installing power windows that weren't originally there? That means test-fitting the inner mechanisms and drilling holes in the doors and body to run the electrical wires.

Converting to aftermarket seats? A late-model transmission? Installing an aftermarket or custom center console? Odds are modifications will be necessary to the floor pan, seat mounts, and trans tunnel.

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The list could go on for pages. The bottom line? Have as many of your parts in hand as possible, or at least their measurements, so you can get an idea of the mods necessary before paint. Here's Jim's take on this aspect:

"Have out all your parts first. This allows you to test fit everything prior to paint as the building process moves forward. Whether a custom build or stock resto, the finished product will be head and shoulders above the competition by dry building."

MORE PHOTOS

1A. Installation of the Fatman Fabrications chassis underneath our '55 hardtop required the pinion snubber be cut off for clearance...

1B. Fortunately Fatman's instructions let us know about this modification ahead of time, but not all aftermarket instructions are so helpful.

2. With most aftermarket full chassis, you’re going to have some body modifications necessary to get everything to fit right. The instructions for our Fatman chassis told us we’d need to cut a relief in the trunk area of our Tri-Five for the rear sway-bar mount. After we were sure there was enough clearance, we boxed this area in with fresh metal and primered it temporarily.

3a. Another mod required for the ’55 was cutting two notches in the rear floor pan to clear the shock mounts.

3b. Another mod required for the ’55 was cutting two notches in the rear floor pan to clear the shock mounts.

4. Back on the '70 Chevelle, because of our custom rear wheels and the way the AME chassis was channeled, a custom job of mini-tubbing the rear wheelwells was required. Having the exact wheels already on hand made this job a lot easier. If you’re going full restomod or pro touring with your project, have your wheels selected and on hand for checking the fit and clearances.

5a. The replacement floor in the ’70 was bone-stock, the tunnel having enough space for a factory four-speed but not the bulk of our Tremec six-speed.

5b. Part of the installation kit American Powertrain sent with the trans was a transmission hump insert to provide the installer a good starting point for converting to a late-model trans.

5c. After cutting out part of the tunnel, setting the insert in place, and locating the transmission, we found the tunnel would need to be widened farther up toward the firewall. Imagine if we had waited until after the body was painted to check this?

6. Another problem spot was the part of the floor brace that follows the lateral hump of the trans tunnel. Until the trans was test-fitted, we had no idea this was going to require modification.

7a. Our AutoRad cooling unit came as a full assembly, with the radiator, A/C evaporator, dual cooling fan assembly, and overflow tank already installed on a beautiful satin-finish core support.

7b. The unit itself dropped right in with zero issues. This required having the front sheetmetal temporarily installed to make sure everything lined up properly. If any process of your build requires installation/removal of fenders, hood, or other sheetmetal, take care of it before you paint.

8. Because our Chevelle convertible has so many other custom touches, to leave the trunk stock would’ve been a crime. Using cardboard, these panels were mocked up that’ll close off the trunk and clean up its looks significantly. These panels will be removable, so once the metal pieces are made, they’ll be fitted along with hinges or a similar retention method, which will need to be secured with welds to the trunk’s inner structure. These are things you don’t want to do after painting.

9. After we test-fitted the front sheetmetal, a large and garish gap between the shock mount and inner lower lip of the inner fender was apparent. To clean this up, a piece was welded in to each, then tweaked to fit just right over the shock mount. Before this part is painted, the welds will be cleaned up further and smoothed out so no one will ever know they existed.

10. With our engine, we found the factory seven-quart oil pan on our Chevrolet Performance 572 wasn’t clearing the crossmember of the AME chassis. We didn’t learn this until our first test-fitting of the engine and trans.

10b. The area circled in the middle photo is where the problem was, and placed next to the solution, an aftermarket Milodon oil pan, shows the difference between the two.

10c. The Milodon pan cleared with no problems. You could notch the factory pan to clear, but going with the aftermarket part was easier and cheaper in the long run.

11a. When we first started our Chevelle project, the plan was to rip out the Malibu sweep gauge dash and install a modified/customized version of the Chevelle dash. The guys at Ground Up Restorations sent us their new SS dash unit, which we test-fitted during the initial dry build. In the top left photo you can see where the mock-up of the gauge cluster was taking place, using the factory dash pad. But the shapes just weren’t going together.

11b. Then Keith at the shop started thinking and looking at the dash of a '69 Impala that was in the shop. Soon a plan came together, measurements made, and the cool discovery of the ’69 Impala dash being the same width as the Chevelle dash was made.

11c. We sourced a '69 dash from a local salvage yard, and voila! We had a great structure to use for building a custom dash. Unlike the Chevelle dash, which is mostly plastic, the Impala structure is all metal, providing a great foundation for our gauge and dash mods.

Check out part 3 of Project XS Chevelle. In this installment we install a new Art Morrison Enterprises Chassis with some help from the guys over at Classic Automotive restoration Specialists. - Super Chevy Magazine » Read More

The classic styling of the ’55 Chevy Art Morrision will never go out of style. Just when you think you’ve seen it all when it comes to ’55s, some ingenious shop or inspired home builder puts together a shoebox Chevy that sets a new standard for building one.- Super Chevy Magazine » Read More